A Little Bit of Curry
by Liza Taylor
Summary: Arjuna reflects on the arrival of his alter self to the Chaldea. Platonic interaction between Arjuna and Gudako but it can be taken as romantic if you like the pairing.


Arjuna hated that other version of himself.

The alter that had recently come to the Chaldea, the version of himself that had thrown away all but a shred of humanity. The one that Karna and the others fought against in the latest Lostbelt. Gudako had come back with more scars than she had left with, a common occurrence in the fight to save their version of humanity.

He watched from afar as this other version of himself got stronger and slowly regained the little humanity he had left. And even then, that alter was more of a hero than Arjuna could ever be. Of course, Gudako would want to use him in battle. He was something stronger, something better than Arjuna who struggled against his humanity and the responsibilities that came with it. If only there was a way Arjuna could throw away the shreds of humanity he still had. Well, besides shoving the entire pantheon of Gods in himself. Obviously, that did not do the trick.

A knock came from the door.

Who could be visiting his room?

Arjuan got to his feet and opened the door and looked down in surprise at Gudako's bright orange hair. She grinned up at him and held up a bowl. "I made curry!"

He stared blankly for a couple of seconds until his brain caught up to what she just said. "You brought curry?"

"Yup! Curry!" Like always his Master didn't seem to care much about decorum as she ducked under his arm and walked into his room and put the bowl down on the small table. "Come on, you better eat it before it gets cold." She took the lid off the bowl and the warm, yet familiar scent of spices filled the room.

"Indian curry?" He looked at her in surprise.

"Yup! I had Parvati help me make it. Well, she told me what to do and I did it. She was throwing so many curry names at me and so many spices and it was so confusing and then she brought up north and south Indian curry and I thought my brain was going to explode." She coughed. "Anyway, here's a north Indian chicken curry. Hopefully it tastes close to home. I even bothered Emiya to track down some basmati rice so it's extra authentic." She put her hands behind her back and grinned.

Arjuna stared dumbly at the bowl of curry and then at her. "You made me curry?"

She nodded.

"But why?"

"Cause I'm a nice, amazing Master of course!"

He could not help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

"Hurry up and eat!" She held up her right hand to show her command seals. "Don't make me use one of these!"

He sighed and took off his gloves. "Let me wash my hands, if you made Indian curry, I have to eat it correctly."

Gudako was still leaning against the wall when he returned. "You could have sat in the chair."

She shook her head and pointed to curry. "Eat."

He sat down. The color was right. A deep yellow gold with large pieces of chicken and he even spotted a few cumin seeds. He used the fingertips of his right hand to mix the curry with the rice. He glanced up to see Gudako watching him intently. He sighed. Moment of truth.

He scooped some rice and a piece of the chicken with his fingertips and put it in his mouth and chewed. Truth of the matter is, it was alright. Nothing amazing like what the cooks of the palace could produce but it had a little something extra to it. A good something.

"No good huh?" Gudako sighed. "Maybe I should have let Parvati just make it."

"It's fine Gudako, really." He picked out a curry leaf and set it against the side of the bowl so he wouldn't accidently eat it. He smiled at the curry. "It has heart to it I guess."

"Heart huh?" Gudako scrunched her face, seemingly in thought. "Emiya says that food is always supposed to have heart to it…guess I got that right!"

Arjuna had to chuckle with how proud she seemed to be over this curry. "Why did you make me curry?"

"Cause I'm a nice Master?"

Arjuna gave her a blank look. He had seen her during events with golden apples in hand as well as when she was gunning for a specific servant from the gacha. Nice was the farthest word in his mind to describe her.

"You don't have to look at me like that," she pouted, crossed her arms and looked to the side. She let out a long sigh and put her hands behind her back. "I was worried about you."

"Worried about me?"

She nodded. "You've been different since I summoned Arjuna Alter and I figured you were probably thinking of stuff like he's better than you and how great he is and I just wanted to let you know that I like you for who you are." She grinned. "I think you're pretty cool yourself."

He had to smile at her grin and looked down at the curry. It wasn't anything special and yet she made it for him because she realized how she was feeling. Gudako was always like that wasn't she? She was in tune to all her servants' feelings and always made time to make them feel comfortable and wanted. In fact, now that he thought about it, it reminded him of Draupadi. A fiery woman that stood up for what she believed in but was also kind and gentle when the situation called for it.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Gudako rubbed her cheeks. "That turmeric was staining everything; did I get some on myself?"

Arjuna shook his head. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he wanted to spend more time with her, spend more time here, in this place. Where he did not have to carry the burden of being a hero on his own. Being in this place for a little longer would be nice.

He snapped back to the present and noticed Gudako was looking at him with a gentle smile.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I hope you enjoy the curry!" She skipped to the door, turned and looked back before leaving. "And you better finish up soon, I have farming to do and you're coming with me!"

Arjuna chuckled and waved in acknowledgement. As the door closed, he focused back on the curry and took another bite. Like always, curry seemed to taste better the longer it had time to sit.


End file.
